


InBetween

by eddiestriker



Category: Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Uprising
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-29
Updated: 2013-03-01
Packaged: 2017-11-27 10:02:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/660696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eddiestriker/pseuds/eddiestriker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Between the Uprising and Flynn's Legacy, the fates of several programs intertwine.</p><p>(NOT 'Terminal' compliant)<br/>(Title subject to change)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mara_01

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter summary: Mara tries to erase memories from her disc. This doesn't go as planned.

Mara_01  
The streets of downtown Purgos were a twisting maze of lights filled with programs, not all of whom were on the 'up-and-up'. Flynn used to marvel at this, in awe that his creations were varied enough to have “Criminals! And even a Mafia, man!” No one else held them with the same wonder as the creator, and he quickly had them dealt with.

It was here, in these infamous streets, that Mara found herself. In accordance with Able's wishes, Mara would be taking over the garage. As such, she would have to meet with Tesler, or one of his subordinates, and they would scan her Disc, looking for any sign of dissension.

Mara used to support the Renegade, and had even assisted in his acts of violence. She had vandalized a moving recognizer, obscuring the driver's window with 'free code'. It careened wildly, killing four Memory Guards. These memories, and others, were stored on her Disc, and she needed them gone before they scanned it.

Granted, it would be possible for Mara to 'lose' her Disc. They'd have to sync her up with a blank one, the only memories that would transfer to the new one would be her memories as an almost-stray. But that would look suspicious, and she didn't trust Tesler not to do something to her Disc. Especially not after she'd been a victim of that orange mist that forced Zed to seek the Renegade's help.

Rasket, a fellow vandal and friend, told Mara about a program in Purgos who could erase memories from her Disc if the need arose. The program's name was Gorn, and her stall was downtown. Rumor was that Gorn used a type of virus to do the procedure called a Grid Worm. Mara shuddered at the thought, but this was the only way.

She found Gorn's place easily enough. It was small and unassuming and Mara almost walked right past it. She fidgeted. If there were guards anywhere, and they suspected anything, she'd be in a lot of trouble. But if Tesler scanned her Disc and saw what she'd done? That would be worse.

Mara pushed open the door of Gorn's storefront. She was instantly hit by the permeating darkness inside, which was only broken by Mara's circuits and those of the program seated at the desk in front of her. The program had her head down as Mara stepped forward. She seemed to be muttering quietly in the dark, but Mara couldn't make out the words.

“Hello?” Mara called to her as she shut the door. The seated program didn't look up, and didn't stop muttering. Mara took a hesitant step forward. The muttering picked up in speed and took on an almost frantic edge. The program's shoulders shook and she brought her hands to her face, feeling around.

Mara stopped. This felt wrong. She wasn't sure if this program was glitched or dangerous. No, she'd just get rid of her Disc, this was too scary, “Sorry, wrong place.” Mara was tense as she backed up slowly to the door and fumbled behind her for the handle. She didn't want to turn her back on the program at the desk.

“Leaving so soon?” came a voice from a shadowed alcove Mara hadn't even seen, “Didn't you come in here for something, mechanic?”

Mara would know that voice anywhere. She'd heard it countless times around Argon-the Square, the garage, Tesler's ship.

Pavel stepped from the shadowy alcove, “I asked you a question. Didn't you come in for something?” The taller program leaned in close, the light from his circuits drowned hers and bathed them in a sinister red glow, “Gorn here is a well-known Disc forger. You wouldn't happen to be involved in that, would you?” Pavel's grin split his face and spread to his ears like a virus.

“N-no. I have a delivery to make and I got lost.” That was half true. Mara did have a delivery to make. She had an invoice and a spare baton on her hip to prove that. She wouldn't just come to Purgos. That would look suspicious when she got scanned, so she took this delivery personally, “I came in here to ask for directions.”

Pavel scooted back a hair, and his grin faded minutely. He thought he'd caught her, “You know, you shouldn't be walking around in this part of Purgos by yourself. A pretty thing like you should have an escort.” he looked momentarily pensive, “Where are you trying to go?”

Mara cringed. Was this Pavel's way of flirting? “I'm trying to find a club called the Glitching Bit. A program there is waiting for his lightcycle repairs.” she could see by the look on Pavel's face that he wanted more details, “His name is Tick.” Pavel scoffed at that.

Most programs knew Tick. He was programmed to keep time from the Users' perspective. These cycles, most of his functions were in standby, save for his 'time idle' clock. As such, he didn't have much work to do, so he spent most of his time entertaining himself. He was kept on a tight leash, however; he'd be the first to notice if a user touched the system, as the idle clock would be interrupted.

Pavel slithered to Mara's side, “I know where the place is. I'll escort you there.”

“You don't have to do that. You must be busy.” Mara didn't like this. Even before the incident with Rasket and Moog, Pavel had always made her nervous.

“Oh, nonsense! It would be my civic duty as well as my pleasure.” Pavel grinned as he placed his hand around Mara's shoulders, “It would be terrible if something happened to you. Tesler put me in charge of Purgos, after all. If anything happened to you on my watch, I'd feel just awful!” He gave her a quick tug, turning her slightly, “Come along now. Don't want to waste the clock's time.”

Mara caved, not really wanting to do anything to set Pavel off. She spared a quick glance behind her as the door closed. She could swear that the other program's face was contorted in a wide grin.

Pavel led her from the building, and one thing came to light very quickly, Pavel never shut up.

“I can't tell you how pleased I am that Able picked you, of all programs, to succeed him. You run a tight garage, and you handled those tanks splendidly.” He smiled again, full of poison, “They work better than ever now. And it was a rush job! Perhaps it was due to the proper motivation?”

Glitched. This program was glitched. That 'motivation' was him threatening to send her friends to the Games. And those tanks had probably derezzed so many innocent programs. She had to play along, and forced a small smile to mask her disgust, “We're the best garage in Argon. Just remember to bring them by every few cycles for maintenance.”

The walk to the garage was short, though it felt longer with Pavel's incessant prattling. The Glitching Bit was down at the end of an easy-to-miss road, which added to Mara's story of getting lost. She was starting to think Pavel had actually fallen for it, “And here we are!” Pavel gestured with a grand wave of his hand, “I have to leave now, but I wanted to make sure you got here safely.” he retracted his arm, putting his hands behind his back in a formal stance, “I'll see you again in Argon, Mara.” He gave her a nod before turning and walking away.

Mara gave a heaving sigh of relief at his departure. Thank the Users. She barely knew how she got out of that alive. Not one to question her good luck, Mara straightened herself out and tried to calm the jitters deep in her code that still screamed 'WRONG'. A few deep breaths later, and she opened the door.

The Glitching Bit wasn't as nice as 001001 back home, not by a long shot. There was loud music playing, but no light danced on the walls or the floor. It was as if the building itself was repurposed and the club thrown up by amateurs. A few seedy programs leered at her from the bar and their seats. Among them, in a corner booth, was Tick. He was waving her over, not that he really needed to, the place wasn't crowded. She walked over to him and felt the eyes of other programs on her, some were snickering behind her back, though she didn't stop to wonder why. She was here to make her delivery, and she was alive to do it.

Tick gave Mara a friendly smile as she approached, which she returned in spades, “You gave us quite a challenge, Tick. I don't even want to calculate how you managed to do that to your cycle without derezzing it. Or yourself,” she laughed as she unclasped the baton and handed it to him.

Tick grinned at her, purple eyes glinting behind his visor in the low light, "Flynn himself couldn't take this from me.” He gestured to the seat opposite him, “Sit,” Mara did so, leaning on the table between them and putting her head atop interlaced fingers, “I heard about Able,” Tick said with a sullen expression, “He was a good program. Many will miss him.” Mara nodded in forlorn agreement and sat back in the booth. That's when she felt it. Her Disc was gone.

Mara's eyes flew open and her arms flailed behind her, she had to make sure she wasn't mistaken. No luck, her Disc was gone, “Oh Users, no!” She turned her attention to Tick, “It's gone!” She wanted to get rid of the evidence, but if it was stolen, it could easily show up in Tesler's possession.

Tick stood and re-seated himself beside Mara, “Do you think you dropped it? Or...”

Mara was certain she hadn't, “No. And I don't think it was stolen either. Pavel's been with me practically since I got off the-” she cut off, eyes wide, “He must have taken it!” full blown panic had set in, “I was due to get scanned before taking over the garage, but I walked into Gorn's place. That's where he found me.”

Tick cringed, he knew who Gorn was. He wrapped his arms around Mara, tucking her head into his shoulder, “Everything will be fine. I'm sure it wasn't Pavel who took your Disc. Do you want me to help you look?” Mara kept shaking and didn't answer, “Why are you so afraid of him having it, if you don't mind the query?”

Mara looked up at him, “The Renegade. I used to support that murderer.” She buried her face back into Tick's shoulder.

Tick squeezed her, “So you used to support the Renegade. So did many programs. As long as you don't anymore, I doubt they'll do anything.”

Her response was muffled by Tick's robe, “They will if I plastered TRON LIVES all over Argon.”

“Oh, I was so hoping you'd try to deny that. I would've looked forward to the interrogation.” Mara's head snapped up as Pavel walked closer, several memory guards close behind. The club started to clear out quickly, but Tick refused to relinquish his hold on Mara until Pavel forcibly yanked him away, “Don't make me derezz you, null-unit.” He turned back to the shaking Mara and held up her Disc, replaying her memory of Able's death, “Betrayed by your hero, and now you'll derezz for it. Or maybe you'd rather we collect volunteers from the garage? Where's your precious Renegade now?”

Mara's shaking ceased and she looked Pavel in the eye and stood, “I'll come quietly,” her words were short and clipped. She was livid. The garage had been threatened too many times and she didn't want anyone hurt because of her, “Just leave the others out of this, they had nothing to do with it.” Pavel grinned and placed her in handcuffs before parading her out the door.

Tick watched as she was taken away. He never saw her again.


	2. Zed_01

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zed gets a message from Tick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I/O Nodes and Suffusion are TRON2.0 tech and will be explained in the end notes!

Zed_01  
The I/O node in the garage was blinking when Zed walked by. Link was usually in charge of incoming transmissions during light duty, but with Mara making an out-of-the-way delivery in Purgos, Beck AWOL and Able...well, the garage was short staffed, the duty roster was reshuffled and the I/O node fell through the cracks.

Zed sighed , setting the box of equipment he was carrying down on the floor. He activated the node using the permission sets everyone in the garage carried, “Argon City garage,” On the other end, Zed saw a frantic program. He'd seen the program before, but couldn't place him. He was talking so fast that Zed had some trouble decoding what he was saying, “Slow down. Is everything okay?”

The program took a breath, “Designation Tick. Mara came to deliver a lightcycle to me.”

“I remember the order. Hasn't she delivered it yet.” Oh Users. Did something happen to Mara?

“Pavel took her! She said she was one of the TRON LIVES vandals! He scanned her disc and she confessed!”

Zed froze. She always supported the Renegade until Abel was killed, he knew that much-everyone did. But one of the free-coders? “You're sure?” his voice was horse and he felt like there were hundreds of Bits 'NO'-ing inside of him, stabbing him from the inside and ripping him apart.

“She's been taken to the Games, I think. She doesn't deserve this.” Tick glanced over his shoulder before turning to face Zed again, “The guards are coming. I have to go.” the node went blank.

Zed couldn't move for a micro. Mara? First Bodhi, then Able, and now Mara? No. This couldn't be happening. Mara will be back safe and sound any microcycle and she'll berate Zed for falling for Tick's cruel prank. Right.

Something inside Zed's code told him no. It told him-screamed at him- that Mara was in trouble. It told him that she needed his help. Unfortunately, if Zed was right, then he needed help as well. And, with Beck AWOL again, there was only one program who would come to his aide in this. Well, that is if he didn't kill him first.

Zed ran back out into the garage, "Dash, cover my shift. Something happened." Dash looked up from the chopper he was working on. He didn't have time to protest as Zed rezzed his cycle and peeled out the door.

Finding the Renegade would be easy. Half of Argon knew about the anti-Occupation rally going on outside the city. Zed calculated the Renegade would be there, watching.

Zed pushed his cycle as fast as it would go, and it roared beneath him, "Faster. Come on! Faster!" The city blasted by in a sea of lights until he entered the tunnels leading to the rally. It was being held at the blown-up energy mine, and the only way to get to it was through Argon's tunnels. His cycle was joined by others heading to the rally. These programs were likely going to cause some kind of mess, piss off Tesler, then escape using the tunnels, which were difficult to navigate if you didn't know them well.

Oh yeah. The Renegade was bound to show up.

The tunnel's exit was ahead, and Zed couldn't have been happier. He dismounted his cycle, though he kept his helmet up for good measure. He followed the other programs down into a valley, where a throng of others stood before a stage. Beyond the stage was the remnants of an energy drill, roped off due to the danger. It was a perfect hiding spot for the Renegade.

Zed moved through the seemingly hundreds of programs that turned out for the rally, making for the drill like he was following a NAVI-BIT. He ducked under the ropes, took hold of a shaky ladder and carefully climbed up, "Come on, Renegade. Be up here."

And there was the Renegade. He wasn't sitting and watching the others, as Zed had expected, rather he was jogging right towards him. It was like the rally didn't even matter. Zed didn't know what to say to that.

So the Renegade started for him, "What's happened?" Zed was confused. How could the Renegade know something had happened. His expression was reflected in the white program's helmet, "You hate me, but you came here looking for me. I heard you. What happened?"

Zed snapped out of his stupor, "Mara. She's being taken to the Games because of you. All because she tagged your name on a building!" He was nearly hysterical, "You know. It's all your fault Able is dead, but I won't lose Mara too. YOU OWE US!" Zed sucked in a heavy breath. He had to calm down or someone would hear.

Behind his mask, Beck's eyes were wide with shock. This was what he was afraid of. This was why he turned Mara away! He shook himself internally. He had to be strong now. That's what Zed needed. Beck reached out his hand and squeezed Zed's shoulder, "The rally can wait. You're right. I do owe you. And I owe Mara too. Let's get her back." They climbed back down the drill, and Zed was quietly thankful to be back on solid ground.

Zed handed over his baton, "Mine's faster, if you remember." He was thankful when the Renegade took it, as he was panicked to the point of glitching. The white-suited program rezzed the cycle and climbed on. He was about to take off when Zed swung his leg over the bike behind him, "I'm coming too. You know how to deal with Tesler's goons, but Mara doesn't trust you anymore. She won't go with you."

That hurt, but it was true. Mara and Zed both believed him to be an assassin, "Alright. But hang on tight, and be careful." Zed put his arms around the Renegade's middle and held on tight as the engine roared to life. The sound of the cycle drew the attention of the growing throng of programs, and the one on stage stopped his speech to look over.

The crowd erupted in a frenzy as the Renegade sped off. Programs left and right mounted their own cycles and roadsters, all gearing up to follow TRON into the tunnels.

Zed looked behind them, "Well, they're glitched." The cycles were following them, but none seemed likely to catch up. Even in this circumstance, Zed was proud of his designs. Facing forward again made him see how easily the Renegade navigated the tunnels. It was as if he had been riding them for cycles. He dodged obstacle and ducked into shortcuts with such practice, Zed had to ask, "So, you come in here often? You seem to know your way around."

Beck started. He hadn't even been focusing on the tunnels, they came so naturally to him, "You should remember that. There was a bomb on that drill. I mapped the tunnels for the quickest route through them, so of course I know them."

"M hm," Zed made a disbelieving noise, "The quickest route out of the tunnels was pretty far back. The way you're going, we'll be at the arena." He could feel the Renegade tense.

"Did you come along just to interrogate me?"

"No, I-" Zed sighed. There were so many burning questions inside of him, but only one he needed to ask, "So you mapped the tunnels. Good for you. That wasn't what I wanted to know." he shifted his weight with the Renegade's and leaned into the turn, "I want to know your side. What happened with Able? Did you kill him?"

Beck knew he was going to ask that. It was a topic he didn't want to bring up with anyone. It hurt to, "No. A program wanted his revenge on me. He used the two of you to exact it, since you've both been seen with me before," this wasn't exactly a lie, "Another ally of mine was at the other end of Argon in the same position. Able had built this program's prison, and was the only one I trusted to help me, and he paid the price, and so did you. I'm sorry." Beck heard the emotion seeping into his voice.

Zed felt the Renegade trembling, and not just from the bike. He didn't think the program was lying. Actually, it made sense, "That program," he started, "it was Cyrus, wasn't it?" The Renegade gave a stiff nod.

And, just like that, things began clicking into place, "When he found us in the 001001, Cyrus told us he was Beck's friend. Oh, Beck is a friend of Mara and I. He'd be here right now if he weren't AWOL. Tesler could have him for all I know right now." Zed was phishing.

"I doubt they have him. He's never hung around me, anyway." Beck knew what Zed was doing.

"Yeah, whenever you show up, he's nowhere to be found!" it was meant to sound flippant, but the statement hung heavily between them. The exit of the tunnels was just ahead and they flew through, scaring a few programs loitering at the mouth, "I almost want to ask where he stands in all of this, but now I don't think I need to." Zed was practically buzzing with his barely contained queries, "You're not TRON at all are you?"

They didn't see the Recognizer until it fired, sending the two programs crashing through the glowing barricade blocking the exit ramp. The Renegade recovered first, "We'll discuss this later." He said quietly to Zed, who grunted in return, before derezzing his bike.

The Reco swung itself until it ran longways down the highway before landing. Four memory guards rushed out at them, leaving one sentry aboard, who pulled quickly back into the air. They charged at the two programs, staves in hand. The Renegade yelled at his companion to stay down as he ran at the guards.

Beck, launched himself into the air, kicking out at two of the guards. He hit one in the helmet and the other, he kicked square in the face, staggering him. The Renegade hit the ground with a grunt and was immediately grabbed by the other two guards.

Zed saw the Renegade wrestle with the guards. Everything in his programming screamed at him to run away and get help, but who would help them? Maybe the programs from the rally, but they couldn't keep up with them in the tunnels and by now, they were either lost or had taken alternate routes. No, it was up to Zed.

He ran for one of the memory guards and grappled him to the ground, freeing up the Renegade to deal with the one on him. The moment he did, the Recognizer spun around and opened fire.

The first shots had missed the fighters, instead it hit one of the guards on the ground. The next volley derezzed part of the exit ramp beyond the barricade. Beck used that to his advantage and, using all his weight, he threw his unbalanced opponent to the sidewalk below. Zed tried to do the same, but the guard recovered.

Beck picked up the staff of the fallen guard and ran to his friend, "Get down!" Zed heard this and broke away from the scuffle. The Renegade hit the guard with everything he had in him, knocking the memory guard out cold.

The fourth, and final guard ducked around the Renegade, and tried to grab him from behind. He shouted orders to the Reco to fire. The pilot swung the machine again and Zed made a grab for his baton before ducking behind bits of debris. He twisted the baton and it clicked open, but it didn't rezz a lightcycle. Instead, it became a blaster.

The Reco loomed closer, and Zed took aim. When it got almost directly over him, he fired. The blast took out the Recognizer's left engine and sent it into a spin. It crashed on the roads below as the Renegade made quick work of the final memory guard.

Beck walked back to his friend. That wasn't like any blaster he'd seen before, so he could only assume Zed built it as well. He could hardly believe his friend came up with something so destructive

"You have another cycle, right?" Zed asked, "Because mine's totaled Good thing Suffusion still works though." He patted the blaster before derezzing it.

Beck pulled out his own baton and rezzed the cycle, "Yeah. Now let's go get Mara."

Zed got on behind the Renegade and clasped his hands around the white program's middle, "So," he started as the cycle began rolling, "are you Beck, or aren't you?"

Beck twitched. All the programs who learned he was the Renegade died. Able, Lux, and even Kobol and Golt. He didn't want Zed to end up like them, "Before I answer, what makes you think so?"

Zed half-grinned against the Renegade's back, "The first we heard of you was CLU's statue. You did that not even half a millicycle after Bodhi..." Zed still couldn't talk about that very well, no one could, "Not to mention Beck is always AWOL when there's news of you. And then there's Cyrus, who you say was after you, but got to us through Beck." Zed hummed, as if debating what he was going to say next, "And I can't forget about the time you and Pavel fought in the garage. I saved Mara from a falling lightjet. She thought you'd done it, but Beck told her it was me. There's no way he could have known that."

"And how long have you suspected it?"

Zed froze. He knew he'd get his answer, one way or the other, "Since Bodhi."

The Renegade sighed and shook his head, "I thought I covered my tracks better than that. Does Mara know?"

He retracted his helmet and looked back at Zed who couldn't help but stare wide eyed at his friend. The Beck he and Mara knew was barely there in the eyes of the program driving the bike. He seemed...bigger, and was shining like a User. He really was TRON now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I/O Nodes are easy ways for programs to communicate with each other and with their Users. They replaced I/O Towers in 2.0. It didn't make sense that programs in Uprising didn't have any way (that we saw) of communicating long distance, so I shoved them in here!
> 
> Suffusion is a weapon from 2.0. It's a short-range shotgun type weapon.


	3. Cutler_01

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cutler shows up!

Cutler_01

He expected TRON would show up at the rally. It was the largest public gathering of programs against CLU short of the ISO wars. What Cutler did not expect was for TRON to go whizzing by on a lightcycle with a passenger as he was addressing the crowd. He did not expect the crowd to all jump on their cycles and run into the tunnels after him, not having heard his plans at all. He laughed as he whipped around a tight bend in the tunnels. One never could predict what that program was going to do.

He and the others had lost sight of TRON's bike early on, but they pressed forward toward an exit at the north side of Argon near the Arena. The other groups would take the other tunnel routes and come up at all ends of the city, flooding Argon with more of TRON's supporters than the occupation could readily handle.

Even having plotted his course beforehand, the tunnels were poorly lit and difficult to navigate. He could barely see the protrusions that stretched from floor to ceiling before he was neck deep in them. He got through them in one piece and his own circuits lit them enough so the others behind him could see them and get through safely.

He was out of the tunnel quickly and on a highway near the back end of the arena. The first thing he saw was the torn up road and the voxels of a derezzed program. TRON had definitely been through here. The remains of a recognizer were smoking near the highway. Cutler sped past, along with his group, ignoring the shocked gasps and yelps coming from the locals.

The rally may not have gone as Cutler planned it, but these programs flowing out of the tunnels like liquid energy were the future of the Revolution. They spilled into the streets and flooded the city in waves. Every single one of them knew not to attack, rather, they were sending a message to the programs of Argon that they had aid in the war. It was telling them that they didn't need to sit oppressed by Tesler and CLU.

Other than the tunnels and where to avoid, the programs weren't given a direction to go in. They would zip through the city on cycles and roadsters and blend in with the locals. They would take example from the TRON LIVES vandals and plaster free code all over the city before running off and hiding.

It was through this lack of concrete direction that Cutler was able to head to the back of the Arena near the pit cells. His plan was to get in there and free the programs held captive there. He'd broken out of those cells twice before, though only one of those attempts was successful. He'd have to remember to find that mechanic friend of his. It had been too long since they'd seen each other

Cutler saw a tank coming down the street, turret inactive, so he ducked into an alley as to not get flattened. There, he derezzed the cycle and clipped it to his boot. Hushed voices of two programs could be heard from the building beside him. No, not from the building. From the alley, "Hello?" One of the voices cut off sharply.

"Cutler? Is that you?" That was a voice he knew.

"TRON?" The white program stepped closer, his circuits unmistakeable, "You peeled out of the rally before I could finish. I calculated I'd follow you and let you have it." Cutler's smile was wide as he retracted his helmet. It was then he saw the program behind TRON, "Who's your friend?"

Beck looked back at Zed and waved him closer, "It's OK, Cutler's on our side," this elicited a "Well I can see that," from the other program, which made Cutler chuckle, "Cutler, this is Zed." They gave one another a nod before Beck cut back in, "Actually, I'm glad you followed me. We could use your help, if you're up for it." Cutler nodded, "A friend, Mara, was taken by Pavel half a millicycle ago. She's one of the free-coders."

"WAS one of the free-coders." Zed chimed in.

Cutler frowned, "She the third 'Jolly Trickster' Moog told me about?" The Renegade nodded, "That's not good, friend. There's a standing order out for them. Once others got involved, CLU got angry. He put a out a silent bounty for any of the vandals to be brought straight to him. If she's anywhere, she's on a transport headed right for TRON City."

Beck's head whipped around to look at Zed. He couldn't see the other program's face, but it couldn't have been filled with any less terror than Beck felt, "We have to beat them there. If CLU wants the vandals brought to him, it means he wants to check their discs himself." Cutler nodded in agreement.

Zed buried his helmeted face in his hands and whimpered, "Mara..." Beck put his arms around his friend.

Cutler watched this exchange with interest. TRON seemed to have picked up some close friends, "She seems to mean a lot to both of you." Zed gave a weak nod that tugged at Cutler's source code, "I'd be honored to help you get her back." There were others that would raid the pit cells in any event, he didn't need to be there. He just got here first to scout the area, "Lets go. We have a chopper."

"Wait." Beck removed TRON's disc and flipped it. Pixel by pixel, his suit blackened and covered his light lines. Small red circuits appeared on his helmet, shoulders, hips and back. It was the same suit TRON had on when he captured Beck, and when Beck caught the Jolly Tricksters. They used it when they didn't want to attract attention, "There," Beck's voice was distorted by the filters in the helmet.

Cutler and Beck rezzed their cycles and Zed climbed on behind Beck.

The chopper was being held in a truck near Argon Square, and Cutler called ahead to let the programs guarding it know he needed it, "A chopper won't outrun a lightjet, so I may need you two on the door guns." The back of the truck split in two, opening to reveal the chopper, red and glowing red at its edges.

As they boarded, Beck was fidgety. He should contact TRON, and let him know what's going on. This was going to be a serious fight, and they may need the older program's help. But there wasn't time. If Mara was going to be saved, they needed to get to her as fast as possible, and TRON's outpost was in the other direction entirely. The helicopter took off with Cutler at the pilot's chair, "Hang on back there." Beck grabbed hold of a handrail fastened to the chopper's ceiling, as did Zed.

The handrails were positioned all through the chopper, and the two programs used them to guide themselves carefully to the door guns. Neither had any intention of using them, and hoped that their superior firepower would deter any followers from getting in range.

Cutler was focused ahead of them, face unseen by the two programs in his charge as his eyes flashed red.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> A few notes:  
> Memory Guards-are those 82-verse looking dudes. The film novelization from the 80's calls them Memory Guards, so I'll refer to them that way here as well.


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